Aaron told the people: “Take of the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” (Exodus 32:2)

The people did this and then Aaron took all the gold ornaments, made a fire and melted them down. Then he poured the liquid gold into a mould in the shape of a calf. After some time, the gold cooled down and Aaron took out of the mould a calf made of gold.

The people said: “This is your god, o Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

Aaron made an altar in front of the calf so that the people could offer animal sacrifices on it.

What a terrible thing they were doing! They were saying that it was this idol that had brought them out of Egypt. This way they broke the second commandment.

God wants us to worship Him alone, not anything else or anybody else. The Israelites had forgotten the wonderful things God had done for them and how He had delivered them from Egypt.